C5 route, West Australia to Qingdao, is crucial for the iron ore global trade 

London, 21/01/2025 – Freight Investor Services (FIS), the leading freight and commodity brokerage, has announced today it facilitated the inaugural C5 option trade on Singapore Exchange (SGX), making a significant milestone in the evolution of the freight derivatives market.  

John Banaszkiewicz, from FIS, commented the trade:  

“We are pleased that FIS made history again with this first C5 option trade on SGX. This is a crucial route for the global iron ore trade. For context, Australia exported over 990 million tonnes of iron ore in 2024, of which 820 million tonnes went to China representing 83% of this trade via the C5 route. In the last 12 months, the C5 route, West Australia to Qingdao, hit a low of $6.11 and a high of $14.68, with a current spot of $6.21, a whopping 30-day volatility of 62%, which is more than double of the SGX Iron ore 62 Fe Future contract, at 24%.  

These impressive figures clearly highlight the bright future of this route. This is a great opportunity for traders, especially the ones in iron ore options, to get even more involved. Added to this, the C5 route increased its FFA volume from 94 million tonnes in 2023 to 245 million tonnes in 2024 – an astonishing 161% year on year rise, so great for underlying liquidity and the option model”.   

FIS trades a range of different futures and options contracts in 15 markets and has been awarded no.1 Top Bulk Commodities IDBs and no. 1 FFA Broker by SGX in 2024.  

Source: Baltic Exchange 

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Contacts

For any query, please contact the FIS Communications Department.

Responsible: Davide Annarumma

Email address: davidea@freightinvestor.com

Phone number: +44 020 4518 6460